Boneyards Read Free Page B

that.
    The Fleet simply had methods of dealing with those who could no longer travel, and were no longer up to the rigors of military life aboard such a ship. The team always had the option of remaining planetside at any planet they visited, or they could leave their ship and volunteer for duty in a different ship. They could join other cultures, or become ground crew at sector bases or leave the Fleet altogether, at any point.
    But the handful who died believed themselves trapped here, in a way that Coop didn't entirely understand. For Coop, rejoining whatever remains of the Fleet five thousand years out is like rejoining family. Many of the others believe the same thing.
    Those who died, however, knew they would never see family and friends again, and couldn't cope with that loss. So they imposed yet another loss on the survivors of the time shift, a loss that made Coop angrier than anything else.
    “He's been out of visual range for a long time,” Mikk says softly to me.
    I glance at my watch. At least fifteen minutes have passed since I last saw him through the gaps in the rocks.
    “You want to send someone in?” Mikk asks, which means he's saying, in Mikk-speak, that he's volunteering to go inside because he believes it crucial.
    “Not yet,” I say.
    The rocks haven't fallen. We would have heard it. But I've talked to Stone enough about the risks to know that Coop could be in danger even if the rocks haven't fallen. He could be stuck in a tight area, one he wedged himself into and now can't get himself out of.
    “The amount of time that has passed is relatively insignificant, given what he's trying to do,” Stone says, letting us know that she overheard us and that she should be the one making the decisions on what happens next.
    “We're not sure exactly what it is he's trying to do,” Mikk says.
    “He wants to see if shutdown procedures were followed,” Yash says.
    I look at her in surprise. She hasn't been willing to answer that question until now. I can't tell if she's speaking up at the moment because she's worried about Coop or because she's tired of our arguments.
    “Even if he finds your equipment, which I don't think he will,” Stone says in her snottiest tone, “he won't be able to tell how it was shut down.”
    “You don't know our equipment,” Yash says in an equally snotty tone.
    “I do know that in an undisturbed environment it can survive,” Stone says. She was with us at Sector Base V, even though she was never allowed inside. “But this environment has been open to the elements for a very long time.”
    “Yeah, I know,” Yash says dismissively. “He does too.”
    I look at her. She knows even more than she's saying. But I don't ask. I figure it'll all play out shortly.
    I move closer to the opening. I don't see him any longer. This time, Stone doesn't try to stop me.
    Mikk glances at me, still worried. I shrug. Stone says we're going to wait, so we'll wait.

A nother twenty minutes go by before we see movement behind those rocks. It only took Coop about ten minutes to go from the opening to that point on the way in, but it takes him almost half an hour on the way back. At first, I think that's because he is carrying something, but it's really because he can't quite maneuver his way out in the same way that he went in.
    Stone tries to explain it to me, something about rock angles and protruding outcroppings, but I don't want to think about it. Although as she talks, I find myself remembering all the ruined wrecks I dived in space, and how sometimes going in one direction, avoiding all the pointy edges, was a lot easier than going in the opposite direction.
    You can't always see the hazards, and you need to avoid them or you make things worse.
    As Coop gets closer to the exit, his face stands out in sharp relief under the lights. Mikk has lowered his arms and turned down the lights somewhat so that they don't blind Coop as he emerges, but they still wash out his skin.
    At least, I hope